Related news

Election blogs

Tom Campbell, a candidate for the Republican nomination for the US Senate, concedes defeat to opponent Carly Fiorina during an election night rally Tuesday, June 8, 2010, in San Jose, Calif. Beside Campbell is his wife Susanne Campbell, right.— Associated Press

+Read Caption

Tom Campbell, a candidate for the Republican nomination for the US Senate, concedes defeat to opponent Carly Fiorina during an election night rally Tuesday, June 8, 2010, in San Jose, Calif. Beside Campbell is his wife Susanne Campbell, right.
/ Associated Press

California Republicans on Tuesday nominated two wealthy businesswomen to be their candidates for governor and U.S. Senate, setting up the potential for the most closely contested top-of-the-ticket campaigns in November that California has seen in nearly two decades.

Former eBay CEO Meg Whitman defeated state Insurance Commissioner Steve Poizner to claim the Republican nomination for governor in her first bid for elective office. She will face Democrat Jerry Brown, the state attorney general who is running for the office he occupied a generation ago. Brown faced no serious opposition for his party’s nomination.

In the race for the Republican nomination for the U.S. Senate, former Hewlett-Packard CEO Carly Fiorina, also in her first campaign, beat former Rep. Tom Campbell and Assemblyman Chuck DeVore of Irvine. Fiorina will face three-term incumbent Democrat Barbara Boxer, who was not seriously challenged for the nomination, in November.

The Republican Party in California has never nominated a woman for governor or the Senate. The presence of two women who can bring considerable personal resources to the campaign creates the likelihood of very spirited general election contests in what is shaping up as a bad year for Democrats and incumbents.

Whitman and Fiorina, who kept their distance during the primary campaign, both addressed the historic nature of their twin victories in election night speeches to supporters.

“Career politicians in Sacramento and Washington be warned: You now face your worst nightmare — two businesswomen from the real world who know how to create jobs, balance budgets and get things done,” Whitman said in Universal City.

Addressing supporters in Anaheim, Fiorina echoed a similar theme.

“California will now be offered two candidates at the top of our ticket who have actually created jobs and cut costs and we look forward to taking on the two career politicians on the other side,” she said.

In terms of money spent, the Republican primary for governor shattered all spending records weeks before the first votes were cast.

“This is going to be a uniquely competitive year,” Field Poll director Mark DiCamillo said.

That would be a novelty in a state that produces top-of-the-ticket landslides more often than not. Nine of the last 13 elections for governor and Senate have been double-digit blowouts.

The candidates wasted no time training their sites on each other — in some cases even before the primary campaign was over.

“I know we can beat Jerry Brown. He’s already been governor 35 years ago and it was not a great run,” Whitman said at a rally Saturday in Escondido. “And I think if we end up with Jerry Brown as governor — a Democratic governor with a Democratic Legislature — you will not recognize California in four to eight years.”

Brown, speaking to supporters Tuesday night in Los Angeles, alluded to the record sums spent in the Republican gubernatorial primary.

“We have just seen the two Republican candidates for governor stage a billionaires’ demolition derby,” he said. “They both say they want to run the state like a business, but they set a national record for excessive spending.”

Boxer, who has never had a female general election opponent before and has easily defeated two underfinanced re-election opponents, has acknowledged this will be her toughest campaign.

Fiorina served notice she intends to make it so.

“I found it interesting that Barbara Boxer announced the other day that she thinks she needs to raise $20 million to $25 million,” Fiorina said. “She clearly thinks she’s in the fight of her life. She’s right. She is.”

Boxer, who was in Washington on Election Day because of Senate business, made it clear she intends to make an issue of jobs lost or shipped overseas during Fiorina’s tenure at the helm of Hewlett-Packard.

“It’s important for people to see who’s really on their side,” Boxer said in an interview. “I will tell you, my opponent is not on their side. Since the issue is jobs, all we have to do is look at my record and her record she’s running on.”

Campbell, a former congressman, state senator and state finance director, announced his candidacy for governor last year. Completely overmatched financially by two extremely wealthy former high-tech entrepreneurs, he shifted to the Senate race early this year.

For a time, it appeared to be a shrewd move on both fronts.

Campbell surely never would have been able to compete with Whitman, who spent $71 million of her own money, and Poizner, who spent $24 million of his. The campaign turned into a name-calling brawl as the candidates branded each other with the label “liberal” and jockeyed over who could take the most hard-line position against “amnesty” for people who are not in the country legally.

As a Senate candidate, Campbell immediately jumped into the lead in the polls but faltered as Fiorina began spending her much fatter bankroll.